Abstract
The use of sewage sludge on agriculture provides an alternativefor sewage sludge disposal. Therefore, it was the aim of thepresent study to evaluate the feasibility of using a domestic(Tai Po sludge) and an industrial (Yuen Long sludge) sewagesludge produced in Hong Kong for the growth of vegetable crops.The acidic loamy soil with or without lime treatment was amendedseparately with each sludge at application rates of 0, 5, 10, 25and 50% (v/v) for the growth of a common local vegetable crop,Brassica chinensis. The plant available metal contents, asindicated by the DTPA extraction, increased with an increase insludge amendment, but decreased with lime amendment at eachsludge application rate due to the reduced metal availabilityat a higher pH. Sludge amendment enhanced the dry weight yieldof B. chinensis and the increase was more obvious for thesoil with lime treatment. The industrial sludge caused a loweryield than that of the domestic sludge amendment and asignificant reduction in yield at high application rates of YuenLong sludge was also noted. Tissue heavy metal contents, exceptfor Fe, increased as the sludge amendment rate increased whileplant grown in Yuen Long sludge amended soil contained higher Crand Zn contents at each sludge application rate. Liming the soilreduced the heavy metal contents in the plant tissues, exceptfor Fe, which were all below the allowable levels for vegetablecrops. The present experiment demonstrates that liming wasimportant in facilitating the growth of B. chinensis in sludge amended soil. The optimal sludge amendment rate for thesoil with lime amendment was 25% Tai Po sludge and 10% YuenLong sludge, while for the soil without lime amendment was 10% and5%, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alloway, B. J.: 1995, Heavy Metals in Soils, Blackie Academic & Professional.
Anderson, A. A. and Neilsson, K. O.: 1974, Ambio 3, 198.
Charman, P. E. V. and Murphy, B. W.: 1992, ‘A Soil Conservation Handbook for New South Wales’, in Soils Their Properties and Management, Sydney University Press.
Epstein, E., Taylor, J. M. and Chaney, R. L.: 1976, J. Environ. Qual. 5, 422.
Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department: 1989, Waste Disposal Plan for Hong Kong, Hong Kong Govt. Printer.
Jones, G. E.: 1981, ‘Sludge Characteristics’, in J. A. Borchardt, W. J., Redeman, G. E. Jones and R. T. Sprague (eds.), Sludge and Its Ultimate Disposal, Ann Arbor Science, pp. 83.
Kabata-Pendias, A. and Pendias, H.: 1986, Trace Elements in Soils and Plants, CRC Press Inc., Florida.
Krebs, R., Gupta, S. K., Furrur, G. and Schulin, R.: 1998, J. Environ. Qual. 27, 18.
Kuo, S., Jellum, E. J. and Baker, A. S.: 1985, Soil Sci. 139, 122.
Lindsay, W. L. and Norwell, W. A.: 1978, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 42, 421.
Little, T. M. and Hill, J. J.: 1978, Agricultural Experimental Design and Analysis, John Wiley, Chichester.
Logan, T. J. and Harrison, B. J.: 1995, J. Environ. Qual. 24, 153.
Logan, T. J., Lindsay, B. J., Goins, L. E. and Ryan, J. A.: 1997,J. Environ. Qual. 26, 534.
Lowther, J. R.: 1980, Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Annal. 11, 175.
McConnell, D. B., Shiralipour, A. and Smith, W. H.: 1993, J. Environ. Qual. 2, 89.
Page, A. L., Miller, R. H. and Keeney, D. R.: 1982, Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties, 2nd ed., American Society of Agronomy Inc., U.S.A.
Rappaport, B. D., Martens, D. C., Reneau Jr., R. B. and Simpson, T. W.: 1988, J. Environ. Qual. 17, 42.
Richards, L. A.: 1960, Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkaline Soils, U.S. Salinity Laboratory, Agricultural Handbook No. 60.
Sims, J. T. and Kline, J. S.: 1991, J. Environ. Qual. 20, 387.
Smith, S. R.: 1993, Environ. Pollut. 85, 312.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: 1994, A plain English guide to the EPA Part 503 Biosolid Rule. Washington, DC: EPA/832-R–93–003.
Vaughan, D. and Ord, B. G.: 1985, ‘Soil Organic Matter–A Perspective on Its Nature, Extraction, Turnover and Role in Soil Fertility’, in D. Vaughan and R. E. Malcolm (eds.), Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences Soil Organic Matter and Biological Activity, Martinus Nijhoff/DR W. Junk Publishers.
Webber, M. D., Kloke, A. and Tjell, J. C.: 1983, ‘A Review of Current Sludge Use Guidelines for the Control of Heavy Metal Contamination in Soil’, in P. L. Hermirte and H. Ott (eds.), Processing and Use of Sewage Sludge, Proceedings of the 3rd Intl. Symp., Brighton, U.K.
Williams, D. E., Vlamis, J., Pukite, A. H. and Corey, J. E.: 1979, Soil Sci. 129, 119.
Wong, J. W. C. and Lai, K. M.: 1996, Bio. Fertil. Soils 23, 420.
Wong, J. W. C. and Su, D. C.: 1997, Biores. Technol. 59, 57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wong, J.W.C., Lai, K.M., Su, D.S. et al. Availability of Heavy Metals for Brassica Chinensis Grown in an Acidic Loamy Soil Amended with a Domestic and an Industrial Sewage Sludge. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 128, 339–353 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010353107240
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010353107240